, 1887-07-14
A TOWN OF THE PAST.
She 3pIierdstown In tho Shenandoah Vail
ley, and Its Romances.
|
WHEELING. w. Va. Juno ID.


At the head of the beautiful valley of tho
Shenandoah, on the bank of the river Swans,
lies small town of about ZOO inhabitants.
To the casual observer the sleepy village
possesses no object of especial interest, savo
that of the picturesque scenery surrounding
it. In the spring of 1874 number of Ger
man emigrants, moving sonthward through
Pennsylvania and by way Of the Upper Hun
dred of Frederick county, Nd, crossed tho
Potomac at what was then called tho "Pack
Horse Ford" and formed a settlement on the
right bank of the river, about mile above
the ford Mindful Of their former homes in
fatherland, they named their infant colony
Mecklenburg, which 1t continued to bo called
until l7G0, when Thomas Shepherd one Of its
citizens, who owned the land Immediately ad-
joining, had q portion of his property laid off
in town lots, and obtaining n charter of incor-
poration from the Virginia house of bur-
gesses, had the name Of the village changed
to Sheperdstown.
Notwithstanding the fact that in 1141 Sir
Alexander Spotswood led his knights of the
Golden Horseshoe to the summit of the Blue
Ridge mountains and brought back glowing
descriptions of the fertile region beyond,
this was only the second settlement in that
wild, picturesque and remote valley. Win
chester, long the frontier outpost OF the col
ony, was established but two years before.
Shepherdstown, therefore, Is the oldest town
in West Virginia. Many traditions have
come down to us from those early pioneers.
On the turnpike not far from tho town is O
hollow just below what is known as tho "Big
HILL" There, it is said, the Indians long
years ago bound a white woman TO an oak
tree and cruelty tortured her to death. And
now the belated traveller es he passes by ia
suro to feel her warm breath fan his cheek
IL ha hoc x,tv i,,,o al, ,l,l 60 rra
O'Shanter's failing. In the woods Just beyond
clanking chains are heard and headess horse
men abound, and the superstitious initiate the
| unfortunate Ichabod Crane, In that they in
variably meet one Of these interesting spec
ters, though, unlike him, they live to tell the
tale to any who will believe. Between the
hollow and the woods In ante-revoutionary
days, stood an inn known MS Travellers Rest,
| and the story runs that Washington, when
| on his way to survey Lord Fairfaxs vast
territory of land, stopped there over night
and joined in a dance that was going on.
The houre, with its old fashioned firepaces
| set across the corners, was afterward altered
and added to as private residence, but dur
ing the civil war it was burned to the ground.
Across the railroad to the left of the famous
MorGan's spring, where in the early summer
of 1i75 one of the three companies
at Shepherdstown sent out to fight,
sin defense of American liberty" the
first in all the south to cross the Potomac,
made its celebrated "bee line march for Bos-
ton" about which so much has been said and
sung. When Washington saw the familiar
hunting shirts and heard them report from
the south bank OF the Potomac, it is said he
shed tears of joy, and, dismounting, walked
down the line and grasped each hardy minute
man by the hand. In every war that has oc-
CURED since then-the Indian wars of the
west, the war of 1912, the Mexican war, tho
Florida war and the late civil war-Shep-
herdstown has always borne her part, and
has been honorably represented by many of
her gallant sons. A quarter Of milo walk
down tho railroad track brings us to tho
lower end Of the main street Of the town. q
mile Of neatly painted churches, dwelling
houses and stores On tho hill two brick
churches face each other-the German Re-
formed and Lutheran. In the German Re
formed churchyard are many old sandstone
tombstones, roughly hewed and lettered in
German. The oldest are doubtless sunk in
the ground or crumbled away, as the remain
ing ones are half in that condition now
The chime Of bells up in the belfry has
reached a "green old age" and the solid ma
sonry OF the store tower which was built for
it is the only part now left of the original
church where the Lutheran and German Re-
formed congregations formerly worshiped
bells is 1882. and the SECOND hell ,yos eiver
Inv Michael Yeoslev n worthy citizon oe ,bo
tSwn When the bell arrived II rvnS tol Ion 20
bis house, still stonding on the main st,oet
where it was filed with wine and then ho,I'
minister and congregation Joined in u rather
unique fashion of dedicat!nS it to the church.
wavs observed and ON Nav years ovo tho
old rbinles toll ont tbc Jvng vao, and ,,,,, T.,
vvelcomc 70 tho nov 80 -
s,hn,hordsto,vn IL r.o,, s,,,,,,io1 ,,.;,,,
.hnrchc, md schools onI d,rinal its o,o,iai ",
gc was onife nonrsSimo. ,,i,"e A,,,,,,o it
jrst,oi wore torrs,.iose VII. ,iiTae . i.s
hides Of domestjr nni,,,ols ,ha .i,ins os doa,
were ,,renored b,c,sLjn breachos ho;mo utSa ,I,a
ordinary wenr of ifs mon II oIso hal ,'p,, v"u
r,.ero,.v and ono for maxim, ,iIoy a,,a ,ba,,
teIl ms of tho time wbcn o,oeds Sron, ,yl,nIs.
saIe houses were wagoued E 10 yinchos,e,. ana